She took us back to her office, and we talked a little about Danielle. Then we started talking about this pregnancy. She said we're still at a low risk for downs and such, since I am still young, but she showed us the same list I remember seeing when mom and I went for our first appointment with Danni. It told us all about the first trimester screening, what it looks for, and how it's done. She told us that if we want to come in around 16-17 weeks for another ultrasound before the 20-week to help put our minds at ease. Of course we said we'd be in.
When we were finished talking with Joan, I gave her a picture that I had put together of Danni and one of her 3D ultrasounds. She thought she was adorable, and put one of my stickers on the back so that she would remember.
Joan brought us back out to the waiting room, and not long after, Krista came out. She said hello to a mom that was sitting with her three month old baby, then smiled at me and said come on back. We talked a little about Danielle, and I told her that I had asked Wendy if she would be able to do my ultrasound. Krista said she had seen my on the schedule a couple weeks ago, and had made sure that I was put into hers.
She started doing the ultrasound, and right away she found 10 fingers and 10 toes.
Then she took a couple measurements. Baby's foot was just under 1 cm long, and the crown to rump length was about 6 cm. She (cause I still think it's a girl) seemed so tiny with so much room to move around compared to the last couple ultrasounds of Danni that I remember. We asked her if we could find out the gender this time, but she said it's still a little early (I guess baby still has a tail at this point, but we couldn't see it.)
Baby was really squirmy and moving all around, which Krista liked to see, but it took a little longer to find her stomach and heart. She found her stomach on the correct side and filled with a little tiny bit of fluid. Everything was going so well with the ultrasound, but I think the part not just Adam and I had been waiting for, but I think Krista as well, was seeing the heart.
Next, I, the self-proclaimed ultra-sound pro, saw something I've never seen before. You have absolutely no idea what it is like to see a 4-chamber heart beating at 156 bmp on the left side of a tiny little body that is growing inside you! (I felt a slight relief when I saw it, but it really didn't hit me until about 9pm last night. I actually felt happy about this baby. It was a strange, but wonderful feeling!) I asked Krista if it was ever confusing doing ultrasounds of Danni since everything was mixed up on the wrong sides. She laughed, and said "Yeah, it did get a little confusing." And she took a couple more pictures (Krista was always good about getting us pictures with Danielle, and she took awesome ones!)
Then Krista brought us over to one of the other rooms for the blood draw part of the first trimester screening. She remembered how the last time she brought me over for that, it took two nurses to do it (they started with my right arm... bad idea, bad veins, and I was not aware enough to tell them to do my left). The nurse this time, though, did just fine. I told her my left arm, and she took seven vials.
On the way out, I gave Wendy, the receptionist a picture of Danni. She said she has a Danielle, and to be careful when she gets older. So I told her she died when she was two days old. I guess she must not really have access to records or something (I remember she never signed the card that they sent after Danni died either). She didn't seem to remember me like everyone else did either. (Even though I would walk in with Danni and she'd already have my arm band out and put it on without even asking my name.)
On our way down to our car, I mentioned to Adam that it must not be routine for the doctor to come in, unless something is wrong, because we never saw Dr. Calvin. (I guess Dr. Ledella has been out with some health issues that actually started when I first got pregnant with Danielle.)
No comments:
Post a Comment